Dr. Jill Caviglia-Harris Earns 2004 Distinguished Faculty Award
SALISBURY, MD---From promoting student research and advocating the importance of good writing to producing groundbreaking economic studies about de-forestation in the Amazon, Dr. Jill Caviglia-Harris has been a creative and dynamic member in the Economics and Finance Department of Salisbury University’s Franklin P. Perdue School of Business since 1998. The recipient of grants, fellowships and other accolades, she now has been recognized by her peers with their highest honor, the SU Distinguished Faculty Award.
Honorees must demonstrate outstanding achievement in three areas: teaching, service and professional development including scholarship and research. According to colleagues, Caviglia-Harris has been stellar in each.
As one of the founding members and past chair of the SU Student Research Conference, she has helped Salisbury become a nationally recognized leader in undergraduate research, one of SU’s strengths as noted in The Princeton Review’s The 357 Best Colleges and Kaplan Publishing’s The Unofficial, Unbiased Guide to the 328 Most Interesting Colleges. She also has advised 13 undergraduate research projects at SU, many resulting in presentations at the National Conferences for Undergraduate Research. Several of her students have won full graduate assistantships to such institutions as the University of Tennessee and the University of Delaware.
According to Dr. Herman Manakyan, chair of the Economics and Finance Department, “In the area of scholarship, Dr. Caviglia-Harris has to be considered one of SU’s stars. The quality and quantity of her scholarly work is outstanding for faculty in her discipline not only in comparison to SU faculty, but nationally.”
Over the past six years, she has had 10 articles published in peer-reviewed journals including some of the most highly regarded in development and environmental economics; received a three-year National Science Foundation Grant for her work in the rain forests; had a book published by Edward Elgar Publishers, a leader in the field of economics; made 15 professional presentations; authored five working papers; written ad-hoc reviews for five journals and the National Science Foundation; and participated in conferences as a moderator and discussant.
She has pursued groundbreaking research in the Amazon, discovering motives ands trends in small farm deforestation that have caused people to rethink conventional wisdom, said Dr. James Kahn of Washington and Lee University.
Students also praise Caviglia-Harris for her leadership in the classroom. “I was scared of economics (and still am), but you made me understand more than I ever thought I could,” wrote one.
Another praised Caviglia-Harris’ “knowledge, enthusiasm and obvious love of the subject matter,” noting, “I feel privileged to have had her as a teacher.”
Dr. Benjamin Greene, retired SU associate professor of economics, expresses the feelings of many: “She sets an example that all faculty would do well to emulate. Without question, she clearly has distinguished herself as one of the most accomplished members of the SU faculty.”
For more information call 410-543-6030 or visit the SU Web site at www.salisbury.edu.